Ed Martin speaks outside the Republican National Committee headquarters on Nov. 5, 2020.Alex Brandon/AP
Ed Martin, the acting US Attorney for the District of Columbia, is a former advocate for January 6 attackers who has demoted, fired, or investigated scores of prosecutors in his office who worked on cases against rioters who assaulted Capitol and DC police that day.
But Martin on Friday announced a new initiative he dubbed “Defend the Police,” which includes steps he said would help prosecutors in his office “get back to” protecting cops.
“We will tolerate no more ‘assaults on police officers,’” Martin wrote in what he called an “open letter” Friday to police officers.
Martin also cheered DC plans to paint over the “Black Lives Matter” mural on 16th Street. “Good riddance,” he wrote.
Martin is a former “Stop the Steal” organizer who has previously blamed the Capitol attack on “antifa,” called for “reparations” for rioters, and urged jailing people involved in prosecuting insurrectionists. While hounding assistant US Attorneys who worked on January 6 cases, he has has gained widespread attention for missteps that include a seemingly overtly unconstitutional effort to dictate curriculum at Georgetown’s law school, attempting to personally prosecute Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for a 2020 speech faulting Supreme Court justices and declaring his office to be “President Trumps’ [sic] lawyers.”
But Martin, who has received President Donald Trump’s nomination to permanently run the US Attorney’s office, is attempting to generate more positive press, in part by promoting a plan to crack down on crime in Washington, a key responsibility of the office he runs. Martin has dubbed that effort “Make DC Safe Again.”
In his letter Friday, which begins with the salutation “Dear Blue,” Martin celebrated the reinstatement of two DC police officers, Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky, who were pardoned by Trump for their convictions stemming from the 2020 death of a moped driver, Karon Hylton-Brown. A jury found the officers had tampered with the crime scene, tuned off body cameras and lied to senior officers to cover up the incident, in which they violated department rules by pursuing Hylton-Brown, who was fatally struck by a car. Both men were convicted of obstruction of justice. Sutton was convicted of second degree murder.
Martin said the men were “wrongly convicted of a bogus charge.” He also cheered DC plans to paint over the “Black Lives Matter” mural on 16th Street. “Good riddance,” he wrote.
Martin also said, vaguely, that he is instructing prosecutors to “stand up against” defense lawyers who malign officers “for sport or advantage unfairly.” And he said that he is rewriting his office’s policy on a DC law that requires prosecutors to inform judges and defense lawyers when an officer accused of egregious misconduct testifies in court.
Martin elaborated on the policy in a email to his staff, which was shared with Mother Jones, noting he has recently been “riding along with” DC police officers. “More and more, I hear from the Men and Women in Blue that they want to know we have their backs.” Martin wrote. “We do and we will.”
Martin’s communications about the policy do not mention the January 6 attack, which resulted in injuries to more than 140 officers and likely contributed to the deaths of five.
